by Jane Austen
“Are they indeed?” cried Elizabeth, with the greatest satisfaction.
“They are going to be encamped near Brighton;10 and I do so want papa to take us all there for the summer! It would be such a delicious scheme, and I dare say would hardly cost any thing at all. Mamma would like to go too of all things! Only think what a miserable summer else we shall have!”
“Yes” thought Elizabeth, “that would be a delightful scheme, indeed, and completely do for us at once. Good Heaven! Brighton, and a whole campful of soldiers, to us, who have been overset11 already by one poor regiment of militia, and the monthly balls of Meryton.”
“Now I have got some news for you,” said Lydia, as they sat down to table. “What do you think? It is excellent news, capital news, and about a certain person that we all like.”
Jane and Elizabeth looked at each other, and the waiter was told that he need not stay.12 Lydia laughed, and said,
“Aye, that is just like your formality and discretion. You thought the waiter must not hear, as if he cared! I dare say he often hears worse things said than I am going to say. But he is an ugly fellow! I am glad he is gone. I never saw such a long chin in my life. Well, but now for my news: it is about dear Wickham; too good for the waiter, is not it? There is no danger of Wickham's marrying Mary King. There's for you! She is gone down to her uncle at Liverpool; gone to stay.13 Wickham is safe.”
“And Mary King is safe!” added Elizabeth; “safe from a connection14 imprudent as to fortune.”
“She is a great fool for going away, if she liked him.”
“But I hope there is no strong attachment on either side,” said Jane.
“I am sure there is not on his. I will answer for it he never cared three straws about her. Who could about such a nasty little freckled thing?”15
Elizabeth was shocked to think that, however incapable of such coarseness of expression herself, the coarseness of the sentiment was little other than her own breast had formerly harboured and fancied liberal!16
As soon as all had ate, and the elder ones paid, the carriage was ordered; and after some contrivance, the whole party, with all their boxes, workbags,17 and parcels, and the unwelcome addition of Kitty's and Lydia's purchases, were seated in it.18
“How nicely we are crammed in!” cried Lydia. “I am glad I bought my bonnet, if it is only for the fun of having another bandbox!19 Well, now let us be quite comfortable and snug, and talk and laugh all the way home. And in the first place, let us hear what has happened to you all, since you went away. Have you seen any pleasant men? Have you had any flirting?20 I was in great hopes that one of you would have got a husband before you came back. Jane will be quite an old maid21 soon, I declare. She is almost three and twenty! Lord, how ashamed I should be of not being married before three and twenty! My aunt Philips wants you so to get husbands, you can't think.22 She says Lizzy had better have taken Mr. Collins; but I do not think there would have been any fun in it. Lord! how I should like to be married before any of you; and then I would chaperon you about to all the balls.23 Dear me! we had such a good piece of fun the other day at Colonel Forster's. Kitty and me were to spend the day there, and Mrs. Forster promised to have a little dance in the evening; (by the bye, Mrs. Forster and me are such friends!) and so she asked the two Harringtons to come, but Harriet was ill, and so Pen was forced to come by herself; and then, what do you think we did? We dressed up Chamberlayne24 in woman's clothes, on purpose to pass for a lady,25 —only think what fun!26 Nota soul knew of it, but Col. and Mrs. Forster, and Kitty and me, except my aunt, for we were forced to borrow one of her gowns; and you cannot imagine how well he looked! When Denny, and Wickham, and Pratt, and two or three more of the men came in, they did not know him in the least. Lord! how I laughed! and so did Mrs. Forster.271 thought I should have died. And that made the men suspect something, and then they soon found out what was the matter.”
With such kind of histories of their parties and good jokes, did Lydia, assisted by Kitty's hints and additions, endeavour to amuse her companions all the way to Longbourn. Elizabeth listened as little as she could, but there was no escaping the frequent mention of Wickham's name.
Their reception at home was most kind. Mrs. Bennet rejoiced to see Jane in undiminished beauty; and more than once during dinner did Mr. Bennet say voluntarily28 to Elizabeth,
“I am glad you are come back, Lizzy.”
Their party in the dining-room was large, for almost all the Lucases came to meet Maria and hear the news: and various were the subjects which occupied them; Lady Lucas was enquiring of Maria across the table, after the welfare and poultry of her eldest daughter; Mrs. Bennet was doubly engaged, on one hand collecting an account of the present fashions from Jane, who sat some way below her, and on the other, retailing29 them all to the younger Miss Lucases; and Lydia, in a voice rather louder than any other person's, was enumerating the various pleasures of the morning to any body who would hear her.
“Oh! Mary,” said she, “I wish you had gone with us, for we had such fun! as we went along, Kitty and me drew up all the blinds,30 and pretended there was nobody in the coach; and I should have gone so all the way, if Kitty had not been sick;31 and when we got to the George,32 I do think we behaved very handsomely, for we treated the other three with the nicest cold luncheon33 in the world, and if you would have gone, we would have treated you too. And then when we came away it was such fun! I thought we never should have got into the coach. I was ready to die of laughter. And then we were so merry all the way home! we talked and laughed so loud, that any body might have heard us ten miles off!”
To this, Mary very gravely replied, “Far be it from me, my dear sister, to depreciate such pleasures. They would doubtless be congenial with the generality of female minds.34 But I confess they would have no charms for me. I should infinitely prefer a book.”
But of this answer Lydia heard not a word. She seldom listened to any body for more than half a minute, and never attended to Mary at all.
In the afternoon35 Lydia was urgent with the rest of the girls to walk to Meryton and see how every body went on; but Elizabeth steadily opposed the scheme. It should not be said, that the Miss Bennets could not be at home half a day before they were in pursuit of the officers.36 There was another reason too for her opposition. She dreaded seeing Wickham again, and was resolved to avoid it as long as possible. The comfort to her, of the regiment's approaching removal, was indeed beyond expression. In a fortnight they were to go, and once gone, she hoped there could be nothing more to plague her on his account.
She had not been many hours at home, before she found that the Brighton scheme, of which Lydia had given them a hint at the inn, was under frequent discussion between her parents. Elizabeth saw directly37 that her father had not the smallest intention of yielding; but his answers were at the same time so vague and equivocal, that her mother, though often disheartened, had never yet despaired of succeeding at last.
1. In this chapter Lydia begins to appear more than before. This is good preparation, for she is to play a central role in an upcoming section of the story.
2. Jane, Elizabeth, and Maria would have traveled from London in a hired carriage, and are now to switch to Mr. Bennet's carriage for the rest of the journey.
3. This would refer to the man driving the Bennet coach, who has brought Kitty and Lydia in plenty of time before the others' arrival.
4. milliner: shopkeeper selling women's hats, clothing, and decorative articles.
5. dressing: preparing, arranging. It would not just mean adding what is now called salad dressing.
6. sallad: this probably means lettuce only (since cucumber is mentioned separately). “Sallad” [sic] occasionally had that meaning.
7. This reveals Lydia's version of hospitality. She invites others to eat with her but makes them pay because she has spent her money buying a hat she did not even like much. Later she will boast to Mary of her generosity.
8. trim it with fresh: to put a fresh tri
m on it.
9. Meryton has been the militia's winter quarters. Army units normally established a camp during the warmer months, which would allow them to fight if necessary.
10. Brighton: a town on the southern coast of England. It was a logical place for the militia to go, since any French invasion would most likely take place in that part of England. Jane Austen's brother Henry, when he was serving in the militia, was encamped at Brighton during the summer of 1793. Brighton was also the leading seaside resort in England in this period. Its rapid growth had been spurred particularly by its being the favorite spot of the current ruler of England, the Prince Regent, who constructed an elaborate pleasure palace there. Summer was its prime season, when visitors numbered in the thousands and a multitude of entertainments were available. All this explains the eagerness of Kitty and Lydia to go there, and the fears of Elizabeth about that prospect. For its location, see maps on pp. 742 and 745.
11. overset: disturbed, thrown into disorder.
12. They do not wish the waiter to hear, in case Lydia might be revealing something important, especially relating to their family. As seen more than once in the novel, servants' gossip is a powerful force in this society. Lydia's lack of concern here with such considerations foreshadows her lack of concern later about engaging in conduct that provides tremendous ammunition for harmful gossip about the Bennets.
13. It is possible that those guarding Mary King wished to protect her from Wickham by sending her away. Liverpool is a considerable distance from Hertfordshire; see map, p. 742.
14. connection: marriage.
15. This is Lydia speaking. Her highly colloquial phrasing, if nothing else, indicates that.
16. Meaning that, as she is shocked to realize, she had formerly harbored similar coarse sentiments about the monetary reasons for Wickham's interest in Mary King, and had thought these sentiments to be generous or open-minded—for in earlier conversations with her aunt she had tried to justify Wickham's conduct rather than to condemn it (see pp. 280 and 282).
17. workbags: bags with needlework supplies.
18. A coach had seating for six and not a lot of other room, so fitting in so many items, along with the four Bennet girls and Maria Lucas, would require some arranging.
19. bandbox: a lightweight, delicate box, used especially for hats. Lydia's words give a further sense of the “benefits” of her purchase and of how little she thinks of others' welfare.
20. After asking these questions, which seem to suggest an interest in the others, Lydia shows her real character and interests by not pausing a moment to hear an answer.
21. old maid: an older woman who has never married. A woman was considered an old maid once she passed the age of normal eligibility for marriage, which might occur by her late 20's and certainly would occur after she turned 30. Old maids were generally looked down upon and ridiculed, and were the subjects of a variety of negative stereotypes.
22. Mrs. Philips's interest in matchmaking makes her greatly resemble her sister, Mrs. Bennet. The Philipses are never mentioned as having any children of their own, so it would be natural for Mrs. Philips to take an especially strong interest in her nieces.
23. As a married woman, Lydia would have more freedom, and could act as chaperone for unmarried women, who were not supposed to attend public functions on their own.
24. Ghamberlayne: a servant. Use of his last name indicates he is an upper servant, most likely a butler.
25. A novel of the time that Jane Austen admired, Maria Edgeworth's Belinda, contains several incidents in which characters demonstrate their folly or their moral irresponsibility by dressing up in clothes of the opposite sex.
26. what fun!: this is the fourth time Lydia has used “fun” in this speech. It is her favorite word, and she uses it often. At this time it was still considered a slang word rather than proper English; no one else in the novel uses it. Jane Austen also has a very foolish character in the story “Catharine, or the Bower” use the word. In general, Lydia's language—her exaggerated expressions, her frequent use of exclamations, her hurried and abbreviated sentences, her rapid leaps from one thought to another, her crude choice of words—reveals perfectly her shallowness, impulsiveness, and lack of sense.
27. This gives a sense of the character of Mrs. Forster, who is shortly to be entrusted with the position of guardian for Lydia.
28. more than once … voluntarily: these represent unusual exertions for Mr. Bennet, and signal the strength of his feelings regarding Elizabeth.
29. retailing: repeating, recounting.
30. blinds: ones for the windows of the coach.
31. A reference to motion sickness, which would have been a problem in coaches of the time since the ride they offered tended to be bumpy.
32. the George: the name of the inn where they ate.
33. luncheon: small midday meal or snack. Lunch as a full meal had not come into fashion yet. The term “luncheon” was just coming into use.
34. The idea of female minds, or characters, being especially inclined toward silliness or frivolity is one found in a number of writings of the time, including some of the moralizing books on female conduct that Mary seems to have studied carefully.
35. afternoon: brief period of time from dinner until tea. This means it would usually extend from around five o'clock until around seven. Obviously the term “afternoon” makes little sense when applied to such a stretch of time; in fact, this strange usage only lasted for a brief period. Afternoon had traditionally been applied to the period from dinner (which had long been at mid-day) until evening. During the eighteenth century dinner, especially for the wealthy, gradually shifted to a later hour; as it did, the commencement of afternoon was steadily pushed back, while morning came to cover more and more of the day. It was not until later decades, after further adjustments of meal times, that afternoon reverted to its original meaning of mid-day until evening.
36. Elizabeth, like almost everyone, shows herself very concerned with society's opinion of herself and her family. Nor does it appear that the author condemns her concern. In fact, her attempts here, and elsewhere, to restrain her two youngest sisters are presented as signs of responsibility on her part, just as Mr. Bennet is clearly irresponsible not to worry about others' opinion of his family and to put his daughter in a position where she has to assume such a burden if she wants anyone to do so. This issue will be developed further two chapters later, when father and daughter clash over the issue of Lydia going to Brighton.
37. directly: immediately.
Chapter Seventeen
E lizabeth's impatience to acquaint Jane with what had happened could no longer be overcome; and at length resolving to suppress every particular in which her sister was concerned, and preparing her to be surprised, she related to her the next morning the chief1 of the scene between Mr. Darcy and herself.
Miss Bennet's astonishment was soon lessened by the strong sisterly partiality which made any admiration of Elizabeth appear perfectly natural; and all surprise was shortly lost in other feelings. She was sorry that Mr. Darcy should have delivered his sentiments in a manner so little suited to recommend them; but still more was she grieved for the unhappiness which her sister's refusal must have given him.
“His being so sure of succeeding, was wrong,” said she; “and certainly ought not to have appeared; but consider how much it must increase his disappointment.”
“Indeed,” replied Elizabeth, “I am heartily sorry for him; but he has other feelings which will probably soon drive away his regard for me.2 You do not blame me, however, for refusing him?”
“Blame you! Oh, no.”
“But you blame me for having spoken so warmly of Wickham.”
“No —I do not know that you were wrong in saying what you did.”
“But you will know it, when I have told you what happened the very next day.”
She then spoke of the letter, repeating the whole of its contents as far as they concerned George Wickham. Wh
at a stroke was this for poor Jane! who would willingly have gone through the world without believing that so much wickedness existed in the whole race of mankind, as was here collected in one individual. Nor was Darcy's vindication, though grateful to her feelings, capable of consoling her for such discovery. Most earnestly did she labour to prove the probability of error, and seek to clear one, without involving the other.
“This will not do” said Elizabeth. “You never will be able to make both of them good for any thing. Take your choice, but you must be satisfied with only one. There is but such a quantity of merit between them; just enough to make one good sort of man; and of late it has been shifting about pretty much. For my part, I am inclined to believe it all Mr. Darcy's, but you shall do as you chuse.”3
It was some time, however, before a smile could be extorted from Jane.
“I do not know when I have been more shocked,” said she. “Wickham so very bad! It is almost past belief. And poor Mr. Darcy! dear Lizzy, only consider what he must have suffered. Such a disappointment! and with the knowledge of your ill opinion too! and having to relate such a thing of his sister! It is really too distressing. I am sure you must feel it so.”
“Oh! no, my regret and compassion are all done away by seeing you so full of both. I know you will do him such ample justice, that I am growing every moment more unconcerned and indifferent. Your profusion makes me saving;4 and if you lament over him much longer, my heart will be as light as a feather.”
“Poor Wickham; there is such an expression of goodness in his countenance! such an openness and gentleness in his manner.”
“There certainly was some great mismanagement in the education of those two young men. One has got all the goodness, and the other all the appearance of it.”5
“I never thought Mr. Darcy so deficient in the appearance of it as you used to do.”
“And yet I meant to be uncommonly clever in taking so decided a dislike to him, without any reason. It is such a spur to one's genius,6 such an opening for wit to have a dislike of that kind. One may be continually abusive without saying any thing just; but one cannot be always laughing at a man without now and then stumbling on something witty.”7